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Two attendants directed parking at the Waquoit Congregational Church on Sunday afternoon, January 28, as cars spilled out of the parking lots and onto the side streets, and hundreds of people made their way through the community hall at Engage Falmouth’s second annual Volunteer Fair and “Engagement party.”

As scientists we have always run into many road blocks, such as lack of funding or resources to do our work. But in recent years new challenges have been arising that as a student and a scientist early in my career I never considered I would face: that scientific facts would not be accepted as scientific fact despite being peer reviewed, accepted by the scientific community and based on solid evidence.

Science supporters will take to the streets for the March for Science events on Earth Day 2017, which is next weekend. The main march in Washington, DC, includes close to 400 satellite marches worldwide, including one here in Falmouth.

“I felt like we needed to have a March for Science here,” said organizer Misty E. Niemeyer, who is also a co-founder of Engage Falmouth. “Science is such a huge part of our community.” She added that the satellite marches are significant because they are part of a cumulative effort to support science.

“This is not the darkness of defeat. This is the darkness of the womb, as a new movement is being born.” Those poetic and prophetic words, passionately uttered by the Reverend Nell Fields of the Waquoit Congregational Church and echoed through their actions by hundreds of passionate Falmouthites as last weekend’s volunteer fair sponsored by Engage Falmouth, signify a resolve and a sense of hope that belie the conflict and consternation that is sweeping the nation.

FALMOUTH — A candlelight vigil was held in Falmouth on Sunday in solidarity with refugees and immigrants.

At 6 p.m., around 100 people gathered on the Falmouth Village Green to show their support in response to President Trump's executive order Saturday stopping travel into the country from certain predominantly Muslim nations.

In the days after thousands of Cape Codders protested President Donald Trump's policy statements at marches from Provincetown to Falmouth and beyond, the activists find themselves back at home energized but grappling with focus.

After the historic Women’s March in Washington, DC, and in cities across the country last Saturday, January 21, many people are asking what to do next. Upper Cape residents and organizations have answers.

“A next step is educating ourselves about which issues to take action in the community,” said Lauren Valle, a founder of Engage Falmouth. “What’s relevant in Falmouth? What’s relevant in Massachusetts? It’s about getting to work.”

Group aims to build post-election grassroots network

The Falmouth Enterprise, Jan. 18, 2017

Engage Falmouth announces its first public event, a “volunteer fair” designed to connect area residents with local causes, from 3 to 6 PM on Sunday, January 29, at the St. Barnabas Church Parish Hall, 91 Main Street.